DENVER – The German Márquez Show at Coors Field was received with two rousing ovations from the 46,815 in attendance on Sunday. During his two-act performance, the Venezuelan offered quality both on the mound and at the plate for much of the game.
But the drama played out over three acts, ending in triumph for the hometown heroes when Tony Wolters swatted a walk-off RBI sacrifice fly, the second of his career, to cap a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to score an unlikely pinch runner in Jeff Hoffman.
Ominous clouds above the stadium indicated more than just the imminent tornado warning to the Denver area. It appeared as this would have a tragic ending for Colorado when Baltimore notched three runs off three extra-base hits to silence the Coors Field cranks in the eighth.
It will all begin in act one when Márquez provided much of the Colorado’s offense. He laid down a sacrifice bunt in his first two plate appearances with the second producing Colorado’s first run of the game to tie the score in the fifth.
The sixth inning elevated the Rockies behind Nolan Arenado’s 201st home run of his career, a two-run shot that traveled an estimated 413 feet. Ian Desmond and Tony Wolters would deliver back-to-back two-out singles to center before bringing the Silver Slugger to the plate with his first chance to swing away.
Márquez smacked a 93 mph fastball to right center field 385 ft off the wall for a standup triple that scored two to put up his team 5-1, bringing the crowd to its feet. The three-base hit was only the 11th recorded by a pitcher in franchise history.
On the mound, the Orioles got on the board first when Hanser Alberto walked with one out and reach third on a single from newly-acquired Keon Broxton. Catcher Austin Wynns laid down a bunt that was quickly fielded by Márquez, but the throw home was rushed and Wolters was unable to make the tag.
From that point on in act two, Márquez cruised through the next four frames until encountering some trouble in the seventh.
After giving up four straight singles and a run, the bullpen did their best to minimize the bases loaded jam. Mike Dunn got a sacrifice fly that scored one against the only batter he faced and Bryan Shaw gave up a single that scored another runner. Both runs were charged to Márquez and the Rockies lead slipped to just one.
An insurance run for Colorado came in the form of David Dahl scoring on an error that followed a Daniel Murphy infield single in the seventh.
The penultimate scene in the eighth featured a leadoff double for Desmond and a one-out walk from Ryan McMahon, but Raimel Tapia and Trevor Story each struck out. For Story, he went down on strikes five times for the Platinum Sombrero to become just the fourth Rockies player to achieve this dubious distinction.
The bottom of the ninth started with Arenado’s one-out single. Daniel Murphy walked and was lifted for a pinch runner in the form of Hoffman. Mark Reynolds came on as a pinch hitter and also walked, as did Ian Desmond during a nine-pitch at bat to bring home the tying run.
With the bases loaded and one-out, Wolters laced a single to left field and Hoffman tagged to score the winning run and complete the dramatic victory for the Rockies.
It was a effort that required contributions from everyone, but at the center was Márquez, who became the first pitcher to record nine runs batted in for a single month since the Cardinal Rick Wise in 1973. Bravo, German. Bravo.
